In the current era of information on demand, ever present CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is an increasingly necessary service. While companies are spending more on training, it’s still a challenge to have employees available around the clock. But the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) is an enormous step towards efficient 24-hour customer service, as robotic messaging systems, aka chatbots, become more consistent.

Once hated for their contrived, overly-standardized answers, chatbots are coming of age and businesses should take heed. Here are several reasons why:

Maximum efficiency

Chatbots offer a standardized way of connecting businesses to their consumers, reducing the complexity of communication. By integrating with social media sites, chatbots allow for seamless verification of personal information (it’s already happening: Sign up through Facebook, anyone?). The need for transfers is reduced, and when they do happen, they’re instant, rather than a cumbersome affair. And finally, with the information explosion on the internet, chatbots allow for fast information transferal through hyperlinks and other rich media, as opposed to linear voice communication. It’s easy enough to see how chatbots simply offer superior CRM through efficiencies that can’t be performed by a human.

A more affordable CRM option

Beyond just being a better customer support service, chatbots allow for dramatic reductions in costs across business call centers. This is mostly due to advances in natural language processing (NLP) and streamlined crowdsourcing. NLP is a form a machine learning. It’s basically an automated way of understanding words or phrases and the most natural responses to those words or phrases. In the past, it’s been notoriously difficult to perfect but today’s technologies are seeing better results. Crowdsourcing allows for the delegation of simple tasks, which can be performed by anyone. Together, these allow a portion of the CRM to be handled via NLP, while a human can be brought into the conversation seamlessly, should it be necessary. One can see how this means fewer people need to be employed and greater training can be given to those brought on.

Advances are getting better, faster

Technological advances in machine learning will allow businesses greater understanding of their markets through streamlined data capturing. Take a moment to think about how Google has changed the face of online marketing through data collection, without users even realizing it. At this juncture, we see the incredible opportunities for future technologies (perhaps even something as engaging as personalized AI) and the impact that these will have on the future of CRM. If you’re interested in establishing a solid rapport with your customers, then read our blog post on CRM best practices.

91% of unsatisfied customers will not return to your site for future purchases. But quality CRM can act as a bridge between you and an unsatisfied customer and chatbots offer a completely viable and affordable solution. It won’t be too long before businesses that aren’t using chatbots will discover that their competitors are.

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